The invention concerns a disposable diaper, in particular, for incontinent care, comprising a hip belt which forms a hip opening of the diaper which is closed in the peripheral direction, and which can be opened and closed on top of itself at least at one location using first and second closure elements, with a diaper main part having a front area, a rear area and an intermediate crotch area, and an absorption element for liquids, wherein the diaper main part can be detachably fixed, at the longitudinal end of its front area or rear area, to the hip belt via third closure elements, such that a user can pull the diaper main part from between the legs after application of the hip belt, and detachably fix the free longitudinal end of the diaper main part to the hip belt.
A disposable diaper of this type is disclosed e.g. in WO-01/00129-A1.
Disposable diapers of this type, which are also often called belt diapers, are advantageous in that the user initially puts the hip belt around the hips for applying the diaper, and usually closes it in the belly area. This is realized by fixing one hip belt section using first closure elements on the side, facing away from the body, of the other hip belt section to second closure elements thereof so that they overlap. In the meantime, the diaper main part of the disposable diaper, which is usually fastened in its rear area to the belt, hangs loosely downwards. After closing the hip belt, the user grasps the freely hanging end of the diaper main part and guides the diaper main part from behind through the legs in order to detachably fix the free longitudinal end of the diaper main part to the outside of the hip belt. Towards this end, the free longitudinal end has third closure elements which are usually designed as mechanical closure elements, in particular, as VELCRO fastener hooks, and fourth closure elements on the side of the hip belt facing away from the body, which are usually designed as a loop-forming fiber material, in particular as a nonwoven material. Clearly, the disposable diaper may also be applied in such a manner that, after application and closing of the hip belt, the diaper main part which is freely hanging downwards is guided from the front to the rear between the legs of a user and is detachably fixed with its rear area to the hip belt. There are also conventional disposable diapers with which the diaper main part can be completely detached from the hip belt, such that flexible handling of the disposable diaper is guaranteed, in particular, for users who need a great deal of care or who are immobile.
One disadvantage of the conventional belt diapers is the lack of flexibility for fixing the free longitudinal end of the diaper main part to the hip belt using the third and fourth closure elements. The conventional third mechanical closure elements are designed such that they can cooperate with the fourth closure elements, in particular with the entire outer side of the material forming the hip belt, in an adhering fashion in correspondence with their primary function. After fixing the hip belt sections to form a closed hip opening using the first and second closure elements, the first closure elements cover part of the fourth closure elements, since the first closure elements usually project past the side edge of the hip belt section. This part of the fourth closure elements can therefore no longer be used as a landing zone for the third, mechanical closure elements. This limits the possibilities of exactly fixing the free longitudinal end of the diaper main part to the hip belt using the third and fourth closure elements. This disadvantage is particularly unfavorable when the first and third closure elements adheringly cooperate with the entire outer side of the material forming the hip belt. In this case, the second and fourth closure elements coincide.
It is therefore the underlying purpose of the present invention to overcome the disadvantage of insufficient flexibility for perfectly fitting a belt diaper using third mechanical closure elements.